Hope is one of those things you can't do without.

The height of the mushroom season. The surrounding woodlands full of locals in search of ceps. We leave them to their own devices. We're ignorant of what is and what isn't poisonous. Sophie is less cautious.

We first notice there's a problem after lunch. Sophie and her favourite rice and chicken go their separate ways. Two hours later it's clear this isn't a 'little ' upset. She's lethargic, vomiting, and starting to foam at the mouth. She drags herself under the laurel hedge where she lies and cries.

The onset of mushroom poisoning symptoms can take between six and twenty hours. Some local fungi are merely irritating. Some hallucinogenic. Others like Lace Cap destroy the liver. The vet spends an hour with Sophie. He can't be sure but he thinks from the symptoms she's eaten a Bolet de Satan. The senior vet thinks about keeping her in for observation but decides ( knowing PON's ) that she'll only be happy '' chez elle ". On his way home he checks in to see how she's getting on.

A night spent sleeping close to her. The door of the office left open. Bob, suddenly placid and clearly unsettled, sleeps beside me. The old dictum that you can never have too many dog towels - absolutely true. This morning she's still leadenly asleep but her tail wags when I call her name.


Apologies to those of you who asked after Sophie earlier today. For some reason Firefox has decided to randomly delete the post. This is a replacement. As of nine o'clock she's still asleep but her tail has been wagging. Local knowledge in a vet is a great thing.